In Praise of the Russian Left-Back

Category: Russia

Former Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin, who was the first player to score four goals at Anfield in more than 60 years, has officially announced his retirement from professional football.

That game against Liverpool in 2009 which ended in a high scoring 4-4 draw will live long in the memories of Arsenal fans, and will be right up there with the very best. In fact, when you think of the all-time greatest Premier League games in the past 30 years, this tie has to up there. Continue reading “RELISHING ARSHAVIN’S FOUR GOALS AGAINST LIVERPOOL” →

Konstantin Rausch, who plays for Dynamo Moscow, has claimed that Egypt striker Mohamed Salah should play at the World Cup in order to make it an attractive competition. The Liverpool winger suffered a shoulder injury in the recent game against Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

This has put his participation in the World Cup at a major doubt, as it appears to be a serious injury, indeed. One of the few teams who would rejoice at this news might be Russia, who are one of the group opponents for Egypt at the World Cup. However, their defenderRausch has made the surprising claim that he wants Salah to feature at the World Cup since Russia want to be tested against the best in the business. Continue reading “Rausch Wants To See Mohamed Salah At World Cup” →

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has supposedly hinted that he is not keen on a move to Manchester United during this summer’s transfer window. The France international came close to reuniting with compatriot Paul Pogba at Old Trafford last summer, before making a surprise U-turn owing to Atletico’s transfer ban being upheld.

The Spanish outfit have since been allowed to sign players during the 2018 winter transfer window, and Griezmann has now suggested that he wants to resolve his future ahead of the World Cup in Russia, he said: “My future will be decided before the World Cup, I want to go to Russia with a clear mind, I think that’s what everybody wants, it’s not so much the question of where I’ll play, which may be boring, but about having the peace of mind if I’m still in one place or another.”

Ghanaian soccer star Aziz Tetteh has reportedly completed his move to Russian side Dynamo Moscow. The player got the nod from the authorities to finish the move from Polish football club Lech Poznan.

The deal is believed to be in the region of 2.5 million Euros in total. The deal was finalized after Tetteh passed medicals at the VTB Arena. He is believed to be a special request by Dynamo Moscow manager Dmitry Khokhlov. Khokhlov wants the tough tackling defensive midfielder to join the setup and improve the club football in the middle.

CSKA Moscow manager Viktor Goncharenko is aware of the threat possessed from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his Arsenal teammates. The Russian outfit have been pitted against the Gunners in the quarter-final stage of the Europa League with the first-leg of the competition due to be played at the Emirates Stadium next month.

Mkhitaryan has already faced CSKA previously on the road with Manchester United in the Champions League. On that occasion, he managed to create havoc in a 59-minute performance, and contributed a goal in a comfortable 4-1 win for Jose Mourinho’s side. Now at Arsenal, Mkhitaryan has been in fine form of late with two goals and assist in the last three games, but Goncharenko is determined to neutralise the Gunners’ attack front. Speaking in a press conference, he said:“I know Mkhitaryan’s abilities very well. We will make maximum efforts to neutralize not solely Henrikh, but the entire attacking line of the opponent.”

Zenit St Petersburg defender Branislav Ivanovic has admitted that he was ‘surprised’ by the performance levels of Celtic during the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 tie. The Hoops produced a strong showing in front of their home supporters, and they were eventually rewarded after Callum McGregor clinched a 78th-minute winner for the Scottish champions.

In an interview covered by The Scotsman, the 33-year-old, who has previously plyed his trade for Chelsea, conceded that he was astonished by the performance of Brendan Rodgers’ side, but he expects Zenit to come back with a strong response of their own when they host the Hoops in the return leg at the Krestovsky Stadium next week.Continue reading “Zenit St Petersburg star surprised by Celtic’s performance” →

AC Milan are ready to make an approach for Zenit St Petersburg manager Roberto Mancini, who may have a contract with the Russian outfit until 2020 but there are signs that he may be ready to return to top level management. Mancini is reportedly not happy with his life and career at Russia, and he is looking forward to returning to mainstream European football. After having recently sacked manager Vincenzo Montella and failed to secure a proper replacement, AC Milan have been struggling for results. The club spent a huge amount of money in the summer on new players, but it is yet to pay dividends.

At this going great, it looks like Milan will have to spend another season without European football. The club have reportedly identified Roberto Mancini has the person to improve the club’s fortunes, as the former Manchester City and Roma manager has the experience of spending money and providing success at the same time. The rumoured unhappiness within Mancini could be a great way to entice the Zenit St Petersburg manager. Since the departure of Vincenzo Montella, Gattuso has been brought in as the interim manager. However, he has had a huge disappointment so far after managing just one victory in four matches.Continue reading “Mancini Linked with Vacant Managerial Role at AC Milan” →

The Russian football union claims that it did not pay any money to the Argentina for a recent friendly match. The two teams meet each other in a friendly game at Moscow. It has been reported that the Russian football union was ready to be around $ 1 million to Argentina for playing a friendly at Moscow. Russia have already qualified for the upcoming World Cup 2018 as hosts, and it presents the team with very little opportunities against the top teams. So far, they have only been involved in friendly matches as a preparation for the World Cup.

Hence, it would not be surprising to see Russia interested in the possibility of playing against one of the top dogs to test themselves ahead of this major tournament. However, RFU president Vitaly Mutko has dismissed the suggestions. Argentina are set to play against Russia in a friendly on November 11. The match will take place at the Luzhniki Stadium, which last hosted a major event in the form of the Champions League final back in 2012. However, it has been idle for a long time due to construction works. The tickets for the game recently went out for sale at $ 13. Mutko has defended the ticket pricing by claiming that the organisation of a friendly against a top team results in a lot of expenses.Continue reading “Russia dismiss bribery claim for friendly against Argentina” →

Russia national team manager Stanislav Cherchesov claims that his team are ready to face one of the best Asian teams in the form of Iran.

Russia do not have any competitive matches between now and the start of the World Cup, as they will be taking part in the competition as the hosts of the tournament. As a result, that is a lot of need from Russia in order to build form by facing competitive teams before the start of the competition. Russia have been involved in friendlies against the likes of Chile, while they were also seen at the Confederations Cup.

Even though the Confederations Cup ended in a disappointing fashion with the team losing against Portugal and Russia, the only victory in this competition came in the hands of New Zealand. As a result, Cherchesov is aware that there is a lot of work to be done within the national team if they are to be coming in with a decent performance in front of their own supporters.
Prior to the start of the World Cup, Russia will be up against Korea, Iran, and Argentina in three friendly matches. The last of those friendlies is scheduled to take place in November and this does not provide the team with plenty of opportunities to test the squad.

Cherchesov is for the moment only focused on the double-header against Korea and Iran.“I’ve previously talked about a friendly between Russia and Iran with Carlos Queiroz and now it’s going to happen. We’ve seen Iran’s match with South Korea and I have to say they take advantage of good players such as (Sardar) Azmoun, (Milad) Mohammadi and (Saeid) Ezatolahi. The friendly match will be an important warm-up match and I am sure my friend Queiroz thinks so. We are going to play a beautiful football with strong Iran and I am sure the fans will fill the seats,” said Cherchesov.

Iran head coach Carlos Quieroz spoke fondly about the Russian national side ahead of the friendly between the two nations on Tuesday night.

The 2018 World Cup hosts defeated South Korea by a comfortable 4-2 scoreline on Saturday, and Queiroz admits there is a still a distinct difference in performance between European and Asian nations.

He said in a press-conference: I saw Russia and South Korea match and I have to say it was a strange and interesting match. Russia showed a better performance and they showed differences between Europe and Asia football. We want to learn from the Russian team, that’s why we are here. I think the current Russian team is a better team than it was in Confederations Cup”

Despite this, Queiroz is confident that his side will play good football against Russia, who will welcome over 23,000 fans for the friendly in Kazan on Tuesday night. After successfully hosting the Confederations Cup in June, Russia are said to have begun preparations for the World Cup in full swing starting with the transport arrangements. Continue reading “Carlos Quieroz praises Russia’s progress ahead of 2018 World Cup” →